The master's thesis presents the correlation between pianists and the practice of yoga, as well as the positive effects that the practice of yoga can have on pianists. After the initial definition of the yoga concept, we focus on the upper part of the pianist's body, define some of its muscles, possible tensions, pain and injuries, that may occur after years of practicing the piano. In parallel with each body part, the master's thesis also presents yoga positions for strengthening and stretching certain (specific) muscle groups. These yoga positions, which in yoga terminology are called asanas, can help to reduce likelihood of tensions, pain and injuries, or they can alleviate the symptoms of musculoskeletal disorders. The possibilities of implementing asanas in everyday practice sessions are also presented; yoga positions, that can be a part of warming up the body before practice and positions that can be performed during practice breaks to relax the mind and the body. Later our focus is on musical performance anxiety; definition and symptoms. We present and describe types of meditation and pranayama techniques, that musicians can use before concerts, auditions, competitions, etc. to deal with specific symptoms of performance anxiety. The importance of good concentration and memory abilities of musicians and pianists is also presented, as well as some studies, that support the positive impact of yoga techniques on cognitive abilities. We came to a conclusion, that yoga techniques, of which we focus on asanas, meditation and pranayama, are a perspective tool for pianists to deal with musculoskeletal tensions, pain and performance anxiety. They can also have positive affects on the cognition of pianists.
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